Chicken Wild Rice Soup – A Minnesotan Favorite

This Chicken Wild Rice Soup is a hearty creamy soup made with cooked chicken, nutty wild rice, and mushrooms. It is a bowl of comfort any time of the year.

Wild rice is the state grain of Minnesota. It is a very nutritious grain and is naturally found in the cold rivers and lakes. This grain is sold throughout the year in Minnesota but their usual harvest time is in August through September. It is no wonder that Chicken Wild Rice Soup is so popular here. Whether it is in the cold winter or warm summer months, this soup is a bowl of comfort. It is one of my favorite creamy soups and I often go to a very popular chain of deli to get my fix.

Best From Scratch

There are quite a few versions of this soup out there and some add a can of condensed soup to it for ease of preparation. I prefer to make the soup from scratch with the addition of flour to achieve that thick creamy consistency. This step is not that much more work as the soup is relatively easy to prepare. You really can’t go wrong if you have all the ingredients on hand.

Pre-cooking the Wild Rice

Wild rice does take a while to cook and so it must be precooked before being added to the soup. It is usually boiled in water until the grains split open. This will take about 45 minutes. The ratio of wild rice to water is 1:4. Once cooked, the split opened grains should be drained of any remaining water. They have a nice nutty flavor and may be added to salads, stuffing, and soups.

My Version of Chicken Wild Rice Soup

The recipe below was based on the Cream of Chicken Wild Rice Soup found at Panera’s Bread, a favorite of mine. I added some freshly chopped parsley for additional flavor, color, and texture. I must say that I was very happy with the way the soup turned out. It was delicious served with crusty bread.

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looks amazing! this is the kind of hearty soup for the sick that bring a cheer to their soul 😀 absolutely love to try it, except i don’t think i have wild rice from where i am (is there a substitute?), and what’s (half and half)?

Thanks Max! This is one of my favorite creamy soups. It is very warm and comforting especially in the colder months here in Minnesota. Half-and-half is a mix of cream and milk. Please substitute with whole milk or skim milk if you prefer a lighter consistency.

What a satisfying, delicious soup! I’m tempted to throw in some lovely spring asparagus with the veggies to make it even heartier, but this will be wonderful just as you’ve shared it with us. Thank you, Biren!

I am so glad to hear you enjoyed the soup. 🙂 Cooking the wild rice is an extra step but other than that, it is a relatively easy soup to prepare. Actually, I wouldn’t mind some cayenne pepper in there myself as I do like spicy foods.

I have never tried freezing creamy soups but I have read that it can be done. However, I would suggest that the milk not be added for the portion to be frozen. You can add milk after reheating the soup.

This recipe sounds really awsome! I LOVE Minnosota wild rice! Do you know if almond milk can be substituted equally for the half and half for us lactose intolerant folks? I realize it may not be as rich, but have heard that almond milk doesn’t always ‘set’ in some recipies. Thanks!

Try goat or coconut milk-will give it a richer flavor so use less – goat a rich savory flavor- coconut a rich “slightly sweet” flavor – we love substituting these two even though we do not have a problem with lactose – we just love how they bump up the flavor

Made this fabulous soup last night…WOW…I followed recipe with just a few minor changes (personal preferences)…1) instead of wild rice, used Minute Ready to Serve Multi-grain Medley..(brn rice, quinoa, rye, barley & oats)both containers; 2)chopped two tomatoes(needed to use);3)added 1 Tbl. Sun-dried tom pesto to veggies; during dinner, my hubby said several times…’this is really great!’ I concur…

This soup looks amazing, but my husband can’t have dairy so I was wondering if you could recommend a non-dairy substitute. Normally we use either almond milk or coconut milk, but I wasn’t sure which would be better for this recipe. Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

I would try the almond milk first as almond milk is relatively neutral. If you feel it is not thick enough, then mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water in a small bowl. When the soup is boiling, pour in this cornstarch mixture and allow it to thicken. I hope that helps.

I LOVE this soup! Myhubby doesn’t like mushrooms so it’s all for ME. I freeze it in individual portions & thaw them out as needed to take it to work for lunches. It’s hearty, delicious &filling. I’m planning to make a batch tomorrow using leftover turrkey. Yummo!!

What kind of wild rice do you use? Brand name? Can you post a pic of what it looks like before you cook it? I bought the Hinode brand white and wild rice blend. I was a little intimidated by some of the darker looking rice blends. Thanks in advance!

I use long grain Minnesota wild rice. Any brand will do but the current package I have is KC’s Best. It is not a rice blend but you can certainly use rice blend if you prefer. Wild rice is pretty dark in color (almost black) but the inside is slightly whitish when it is cooked and splits open.

Made your soup for dinner tonight and my husband declared it’s the best soup I ever made and it is his new favorite! And I agree. This soup is fabulous!! Thank you for sharing your recipe. I’m so happy to have it.

This turned out so good! I only made a couple of adjustments – I added in a couple of cloves of garlic and added the mushrooms in with the veg & let them all cook together until they were really soft and a little browned before adding the flour, and I also added in a little basil with the thyme. I totally forgot to add in the 1/2 & 1/2 but didn’t miss it at all. My husband dislikes mushrooms but he’s on his second bowl of soup right now!

I used 3/4 cup of flour and would not recommend using that much. It took away from the flavours of all the other great ingredients. I would also use 3 TBS of butter in place of the veg oil, to make a classic roux. Otherwise, a delicious soup!

I removed half the soup before adding half and half and froze it. I thawed I out the next week and added the milk. Soooo good.
I prepared a whole chicken the week before for something else, split the chicken and broth and saved it just for this soup. I got about 4 meals from one chicken for 2 people. ?

Our local hospital makes a version of this quite often. They make theirs with diced ham and have toasted almonds to garnish the soup. it’s delicious. I’ll be trying your version next week! A great use for leftover chicken

We love this recipe! I’m trying to print it to put in my collection but I don’t like the layout: 2 pages with large pictures. I can’t copy and paste it either. Is there a way I can print it without pictures? Or at least keep it all on one page?

Loved this! I will certainly make this again. I did mine gluten and dairy free- I used all purpose gluten free flour and coconut milk (unsweetened) and it was terrific! My husband said that it would make for a great pot pie filling too. Love all the recipes you share thank you!

This is a wonderful recipe! It made so much I took some to work and it was gone in 30 minutes with many people wanting the recipe! It is very filling and a great “comfort” soup. This will be one of my new standbys for soup.

YUM!!! I made this for a friend that just had major back and throat surgery, so swallowing is hard for her. I think this is one of the BEST chicken soup recipes I’ve ever made. I left out the cream simply because I didn’t have any, and the soup was still FABULOUS.
I can’t wait to take it to my friend tonight and have her start healing with some yummy homemade chicken soup.
Thank you for this recipe!! Your instructions were clear and simple and that means a lot to this busy Mama.
Blessings to you and yours!

Thank you so much for your kind words. I am glad you found the instructions helpful. I pray your friend has a speedy recovery from her throat surgery. It was very kind of you to make her this soup. Blessings to you and your friend!

This was AMAZING! I used leftover Turkey and tex Mexicmix rice. My husband was in the hospital this past week with heart failure & AFIB. It was an incredibly scary week. This soup was just the perfect cozy comfort super low sodium meal we needed. Thank you for a great recipe.